Lady Hou is reborn and, by pampering her illegitimate son, reclaims her life of wealth and privilege

Soon, the carriage arrived at Jiang Huaiyu's destination.

It was a magnificent four-story building, originally a restaurant. Due to poor business, the owner planned to sell it at a low price and take the money back to his hometown to farm.

Jiang Huaiyu and Cuiying stepped into the shop.

At the counter, a middle-aged man dressed in a yellow brocade robe and wearing a tall hat of a scholar, saw the two of them walk in and said apologetically, "Distinguished guests, I'm so sorry, but our shop is closed and we cannot serve you."

However, Jiang Huaiyu did not stop. He strode into the shop and asked, "I heard that the owner intends to sell this restaurant. Is that true?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately closed the door and warmly led them into a private room on the second floor.

He was secretly delighted; the restaurant had been listed for sale for a long time, but no one had shown any interest.

Today, a buyer finally arrived, and he was determined to close the deal so he could return home to celebrate the holiday as soon as possible.

The middle-aged man gently filled Jiang Huaiyu's cup with tea and asked with a smile, "May I ask your honorable name, Madam?"

Jiang Huaiyu smiled slightly and replied, "I dare not accept such praise. My humble surname is Jiang."

The man smiled kindly and said, "So you are Madam Jiang. I am Zhang, and I am indeed interested in selling this restaurant, but the price is far beyond what ordinary people can afford."

Jiang Huaiyu raised his eyebrows slightly, estimating in his mind: a shop in the capital can be bought for a thousand taels of silver, a superior one for three or four thousand taels of silver, and those extremely luxurious places can cost up to ten thousand taels of silver.

The restaurant before us is grand in scale, but its location is rather ordinary. By conventional estimates, it would only be worth five or six thousand taels of silver. However, its unique business strategy and distinctive decor and services have made it extremely popular, even boosting the prosperity of the entire neighborhood.

"Mr. Zhang, what price are you planning to ask for?"

Boss Zhang stretched out one palm, made a five gesture, and had a look on his face that said, "You definitely won't lose out."

5000 taels is indeed not an exorbitant price, but Jiang Huaiyu is currently quite strapped for cash and naturally hopes to get a discount.

She frowned slightly, revealing a hint of sorrow.

Seeing this, Boss Zhang seemed to have no choice but to grit his teeth and stomp his foot, saying, "I'll deduct another 200 taels from your price. This is already a very good deal."

Jiang Huaiyu remained silent for a moment, then said slowly, "Boss Zhang, your restaurant is indeed spacious, but why can't you continue operating it? Is it because of insufficient customer traffic? The location is a huge disadvantage, and I am indeed worried that the business will not be able to continue in the future. Therefore, 4500 taels is the highest price I can afford!"

Manager Zhang waved his hand, and with a bang, announced, "The deal is done."

Seeing Manager Zhang's triumphant appearance, Jiang Huaiyu secretly thought that if she had lowered the price a little more, she might have been able to close the deal.

However, this is irrelevant. After all, once this shop is rented to that brothel, it will definitely bring in a considerable amount of rent, at least 500 taels per month.

Shopkeeper Zhang quickly retrieved a pre-prepared contract from the drawer, and Jiang Huaiyu signed his name and pressed his fingerprint without hesitation. The procedures for buying and selling a shop were quite complicated; registration, transfer of ownership, and payment of silver were required at the government office before the transaction was considered complete.

The two agreed to go to the government office the next day to complete the transfer of ownership, and Jiang Huaiyu would bring the money with him.

Manager Zhang nodded with a smile in agreement.

As Jiang Huaiyu returned to the Marquis's residence, Granny Wu also returned. She had successfully sold two silver notes and brought back ten 1000-tael silver notes. She took out one 1,000-tael silver note and gave it to Steward Zheng to be in charge of the household's daily expenses. She kept the remaining 4000 taels safe for emergencies, and reserved the other 5000 taels for the transfer of the shop the next day.

……

As night fell, Wei Fenghui and Wei Ruoyi had dinner together at the Zitan Garden.

Wei Fenghui's gaze swept over the dishes on the table, which were clearly reduced by half, and he seemed to have found evidence to accuse Jiang Huaiyu of hypocrisy. "Mother, you see, Jiang Huaiyu is clearly mistreating us on purpose, even cutting our meals in half. Her harsh attitude towards us has never changed. A few days ago, she was only pretending to be kind and tolerant in front of the powerful and wealthy because of Father's passing. But now that Father's funeral is over, she has shown her true colors."

Starting today, our meals will be halved. In a few days, she'll probably send us back to our old, dilapidated place. She might also demand that we repay all the food, clothing, and other necessities we've incurred during this time.”

Wei Ruoyi stared intently at the food on the table, her son beside her, who was in a state of high excitement. She herself remained silent, quietly picking up food with her chopsticks without uttering a word.

With tears in his eyes, Wei Fenghui declared resolutely, "Mother, I will definitely study hard and achieve great things. When that happens, I will take you away from this treacherous and cunning demon cave."

Wei Ruoyi responded casually, "Madam is not that kind of person. There must be other reasons for the reduced food intake."

Wei Fenghui harbored resentment towards Wei Ruoyi for always favoring Jiang Huaiyu, and said agitatedly, "The facts are right in front of us, the evidence is conclusive, yet you still prefer to believe that scheming wife rather than your own son!"

Wei Ruoyi put down her chopsticks and raised her voice: "Have you wasted all the books you've read? You've forgotten that human nature is inherently good. Many things in the world are not as complicated as you think. Madam is not as cunning as you describe."

Faced with his mother's stubbornness, Wei Fenghui got angry and immediately stood up and stormed off.

All he wanted to do now was go back to his room, pack his bags, and return to his old, simple courtyard home.

He firmly believed that the day Jiang Huaiyu kicked them out of the house, his mother would see through Jiang Huaiyu's hypocritical mask.

On his way back to Wuyang Garden, Wei Fenghui caught a glimpse of two maids whispering in a corner.

"Alas, the Marquis's family is already in dire financial straits. This morning, the Madam ordered Granny Fang to cut the masters' meal expenses in half."

"That's not all. It's so hard to find even a single coin in the mansion that even the madam had to order Granny Wu to pawn her dowry."

"That's right, Madam is actually quite kind-hearted. She only reduced the food expenses for the masters, but did not reduce our share."

"Indeed, it is not easy for the lady to shoulder the responsibility of protecting such a large Marquis's mansion all by herself."

"But what will we do in the future? Will they even withhold our monthly allowance?"

The two maids couldn't help but look worried, their brows furrowed.

"No one in the Marquis's household is currently serving as an official in the court. I am worried that the good days of the Marquis's household may not last long."

"We need to find a new way out quickly."

Wei Fenghui hid behind the dense shadows of the trees, eavesdropping on the maids' conversation.

So, the Marquis's predicament wasn't due to Jiang Huaiyu's extravagance, but rather because the funds were exhausted, forcing them to reduce food expenses. Wei Fenghui felt a pang of self-reproach. He had just blamed Jiang Huaiyu in front of his mother, judging him by his own petty standards, only to find it was all a misunderstanding. He felt a burning shame on his face.